A member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) in a statement dated yesterday, February 8, expressed endorsement for President Chen’s recent remarks on abolishing the National Unification Council/Guidelines.

Rep. Garrett states: “Recently, President Chen proposed to prudently think over abolishing all ad hoc institutions under the Office of the President that were not established by law. One of those programs, the National Unification Commission (NUC), has long had its effectiveness in question and he doesn’t want to see unification became the only option for the cross-strait relations.”

In his statement, Rep.Garrett denounces Chinese continued attempts to threaten Taiwan with military force. He states, “The deployment of more than 700 missiles along the southeast coast indicates that China still stubbornly clings to a military solution to the Taiwan issues. Mr. speaker, military intimidation over Taiwan is no solution to the cross-strait relations.”

Rep. Garrett also voices his support for President Chen’s remarks on joining the United Nations. He states: “China must not block Taiwan’s attempts to gain international recognition or to return to international organizations. Taiwan is a free and democratic nation and deserves to be treated with respect by the international community.”

He concludes, “President Chen is a man of peace who has reaffirmed his commitment to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait on many occasions. His goal of reducing tensions between Taiwan and China remains unchanged. It is my hope that China will reciprocate Chen’s olive branch by renouncing the use of force against Taiwan and resuming dialogue on equal footing and without pre-conditions.”

FAPA President CT Lee says: “FAPA has sent a letter to President Bush and Secretary Rice on February 3rd, expressing Taiwanese Americans’ support for President Chen. The letter echoed the exact same sentiment expressed here in Rep. Garrett’s statement.”

CT Lee continues, “In FAPA’s letter, we urged the Bush administration to abolish the outdated One China Policy. We also challenge the US statement that the Taiwan’s future should be mutually agreeable to people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. We believe that the future of Taiwan should be determined SOLELY by the people of Taiwan, and by nobody else.”